Best (Inexpensive) Way to Learn SolidWorks Premium

I am an individual almost complete newbie considering shelling out $8K for a copy of SolidWorks Premium. My main interest is simulation of linear static strains induced by gravity on a relatively simple assembly of parts made of a few different materials. I've been working remotely with a license owner for a couple of years (folks here have given us a lot of extremely valuable guidance in that endeavor!), but I've never actually laid a hand on the software. Worse yet, although computer literate, I've never before worked with a CAD or FEM package. So in addition to learning how to run effective simulations and get results out, I would need basic education on how to create the parts within SolidWorks and combine them into assemblies suitable for simulation.

Can anyone recommend a good book (or two, perhaps, given the simulation aspect) that would (1) give me an idea what I'm up against pre-purchase and still (2) help me find my way through the project post-purchase? -- John Willett

P.S. -- I have a 2014 model Lenovo Thinkpad W430, the most powerful laptop I could find, more-or-less maxed out with Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, an Intel Core i7-3840QM processor, 32 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, NVIDIA Quatro K1000M Graphics with 2 GB RAM, etc. Is it foolish of me to assume that I could run SolidWorks Premium adequately on such a machine? -- J.W.

There are a slew of YouTube videos out there that can help you, and a Google search will turn up a plethora of helpful websites and blogs. As for books, I'd suggest the SolidWorks Bible by Matt Lombard. You'll also want to go through the tutorial section in SolidWorks to begin to grasp things. If you find you need some more help, check out SolidProfessor.com. It's a subscription-based video tutorial website that does a great job of explaining SolidWorks from the basics through advanced topics, like simulation.

>>As for books, I'd suggest the SolidWorks Bible by Matt Lombard. You'll also want to go through the tutorial section in SolidWorks to begin to grasp things.<<

Jeff -- Thanks! I looked at the TOC of the Bible on Amazon, but it does not **appear** to cover simulations at all. Am I wrong. If not, is there a good book to carry me into that area? (I hate videos mainly because you can't read them in bed or view them while working with the software on the same computer.)

You need to walk before you run, hence my suggestion of the bible. In order to run simulations, you'll want to be sure you've created your models and assemblies correctly. A search in Amazon will give you a bunch of different manuals to choose from. Anything by Lombard or Planchard I can recommend. The others I don't know about.

As for SolidProfessor, it actually can be embedded in the SolidWorks Task pane so that you can view and work at the same time (I believe).

>>A search in Amazon will give you a bunch of different manuals to choose from. Anything by Lombard or Planchard I can recommend.<<

Jeff (and others) -- I can't find anything on Amazon that combines the words Solidworks, [simulation OR finite element], and [Lombard OR Planchard]. I do find a highly rated (among only 4 reviews) book,

I guess what I'm trying to say is you're probably not going to find an all-in-one book that will teach you SolidWorks and simulation. Simulation is a specialized segment of SolidWorks that most beginners wouldn't be using, and will be a book on its own.

Where you haven't worked in any CAD package before, you're going to need to learn the basics before you jump into simulation.

>>Simulation is a specialized segment of SolidWorks that most beginners wouldn't be using, and will be a book on its own.<<

Jeff -- Understood. I guess I misled you into thinking I was looking for a single book. I'm assuming I would get the Bible to learn the basics of CAD with SolidWorks. I was looking for a second book to teach me how to do linear static simulations with it and get results. Maybe there isn't such a thing... -- John Willett

I disagree about reseller training. It's way overpriced. We just wasted $2k sending two of us to Composer Training to have the instructor read out of the manual. Not the official SolidWorks manual, either. They had their own manual that was 1/4 the size of the SW manual. Thankfully, they gave us the SolidWorks manual as well.

You get much better value from online (video) training, coupled with the tutorials, YouTube and the forums. With online training, you can keep repeating the same lesson until you understand it. If you get stuck, between here and Eng-Tips.com, you'll get the help you need.

OK, I read through the evaluation section (only including the 1st 10 pp. of Chapter 2). I didn't intend to write a book review here, but you'll get the idea of where I'm coming from. The material is not completely unfamiliar to me from working remotely through my friend who has a copy of SolidWorks Premium, so I know what most of the steps are about and think I can see some of the shortcomings in the text. (Admittedly, these might be corrected later on in the book.):

Although Chapter 2 does give a cookbook-like, step-by-step description of how to start up a simulation, which would certainly be helpful the first time through, it is remarkably thin on explanations of the consequences of the selections you are instructed to make. For example, under "Applying Material" (p. 2-3) nothing is said about whether the material properties could/should have been applied in the definition of the modeled part(s) before even starting the simulation. One of the pitfalls my friend fell into was accidentally choosing different material properties for different simulations of the same assembly, which lead to great confusion in interpreting the results. Eventually we were advised in this forum that we should have defined (or re-defined) the desired materials within the part definitions, thus avoiding this pitfall.

Another apparently missing piece is how (if you want to, as we did) you can modify the properties of a library material to create new named materials that can then be referenced in simulations (or better yet, in parts definitions.) Although this ability must exist in SolidWorks, I don't see it mentioned either in the sections I read or in the index (which in fact suggests that successive chapters just repeat the same steps outlined in Chapter 2, albeit in slightly different contexts).

I can't help mentioning the oblique reference to "Simulation Xpress" on p. 2-4 ("You can refer to the Simulation Xpress chapter in one of my book [sic.] SOLIDWORKS 2014 Black Book for reference), which seems primarily designed to sell more of the author's books.

Finally, the grammar and diction are very poor (as in the quote above) and the production looks like a home-made Word document, neither of which inspire confidence. Does this guy self publish?

Am I completely wrong about this book. Is it really much more useful than it appears from the evaluation section? -- John Willett

FYI, I just stumbled on a really fabulous tutorial exercise at "highered.mheducation.com/sites/dl/free/0073375454/920715/FEA_Tutorial_2011.pdf". The apparently underlying book, "Introduction to Solid Modeling Using SolidWorks 2011, May 13, 2011, by William Howard and Joseph Musto," has now been updated to a 2014 edition, but so far I can't find a TOC to tell what's in it. Anybody seen the book or heard of the authors? -- John Willett

The best way that I found was to just open up the software and play around. Once you have found a lot of the different functions, I would watch youtube videos that explained the different features and how to perform them. There are also resources that SW puts out, and also places such as Hawkridge or Goengineer.

>>The best way that I found was to just open up the software and play around.<<

Thanks. I've no doubt you are right. My problem is that I'm still in the evaluation stages -- not yet certain that I'm going to shell out $8K personal dollars and wanting to know as much as I can about what I'm getting into before I do so. Hence my desire for one or two books that cover the ground from learning CAD through executing valid linear static distortion analyses. -- John Willett